“Huesos”, Exhibition by Kiff Slemmons at Gallery Loupe

Bent Rounds. Neckpiece. Cotton Agave handmade paper, Oaxaca Mexico.

Palietas. Neckpiece. Cotton Agave handmade paper, Oaxaca Mexico.

“Talking about paper in Oaxaca involves countering assumptions about the material, its fragility vs. strength, the metaphoric implications of paper in this regard, in relation to books and the culture at large. What paper meant in pre-contact culture in Mexico, its magnified significance after conquest, its current place in culture today, ours and theirs. How I came to work as I did there means looking at my previous work, how it might have led to such a project which involves a kind of world view through jewelry and writing. My work is really not technique determined, even with the paper. It’s ideas that interest me first. And the possibility of being poetic in a visual language.”

7 Points. Neckpiece. Cotton Agave handmade paper, Oaxaca Mexico.

Caracoles. Bracelets. Cotton Agave handmade paper, Oaxaca Mexico.

Gorditos. Neckpiece. Cotton Agave handmade paper, Oaxaca Mexico.

Bracelets. Cotton Agave handmade paper, Oaxaca Mexico.

Huipil. Neckpiece. Cotton Agave handmade paper, Oaxaca Mexico.

Photographs by Rod Slemmons

From today until March 6th you can visit the exhibition “Huesos” by Kiff Slemmons at Gallery Loupe, the result of a ten-year collaboration with the artisans of Arte Papel in Oaxaca, Mexico. In this exhibition, Kiff Slemmons presents her paper jewelry which is highly sculptural and utilizes indigenous plants, fibers, as well as natural and synthetic dyes.